THe ACT Liberal senator called on Canberra's three federal Labor politicians - Senator Kate Lundy and MPs Gai Brodtmann and Andrew Leigh - to confirm whether their opposition to the government’s paid parental leave scheme extended to the current benefits awarded to public servants.

“Fifty per cent of the workforce in Canberra are employed in the private sector," Senator Seselja said.

"The principle the leader of the opposition is apparently supporting is that his staff should get a paid parental leave scheme that pays them at their real wage but the people of Australia should not," Mr Abbott said.

"That is the real unfairness. What I am saying, what this government is saying, is that everyone should get access to paid parental leave at their wage, because this should be a workplace entitlement.

"If you get paid at your real wage when you go on holiday, if you get paid at your real wage when you get sick pay, if you get paid at your real wage when you take long-service leave, then surely you should get paid at your real wage on paid parental leave. The best way to ensure that this is properly funded is to make sure that the biggest companies in Australia pay it."